Transfiguration

Is there anything more beautiful than a life transformed?

Maybe only this: a whole community transformed.

We met yesterday with a working group of orphans in Nyanza, a stone's throw from the border with Burundi, and a poorer place than any we've seen. These 151 orphans come from 83 households headed either by orphans or very distressed parents (we met one parent who was a genocide survivor with the scars to show it, and heard of another with HIV). Our companions from Duck UMC on the coast support this crew. They're just beginning their third and final year in Zoe and their progress is breathtaking.

We heard testimony from two in particular. Celestin appeared to us put together, well-dressed, confident, straight-backed, and smiling. We had to take his word then that two years prior he was homeless, sleeping under bridges or in trees (he acted out for us how one would sleep in a tree without falling out!). He stole or worked for subsistence alone, not wages. And all disliked him. They said among themselves that giving him anything would just encourage him. It took real courage to respond to an NGO announcement for a new program for orphans. He was nervous to enter the government building in rags, smelling as he did, and with worms that left his hair in tatters. I looked around at that same government building, equivalent to a county courthouse, that a moment ago I'd disdained for its broken windows and smelly restrooms. The place intimidated Celestin the way the Chase Manhattan boardroom would most of us.

The Zoe working group grows cassava together. They sold the seeds from their first harvest for a king's ransom, 210,000 Rwandan francs--about $313 US. And they kept the roots for food or to sell in the market. 14 of the 153 kids were homeless. Zoe helped put them into homes. The children showed us the produce from their individual projects--bags and bags of maize, sorghum, tomatoes, even doughnuts! (watch out, Local Lion).

And among them was Celestin. He had a place to live. An animal provided by Zoe. He's in training at a vocational school now to become a mechanic. And it was clear, if anything, how deeply his standing in his community had changed. He had the confident and winsome manner of a leader, one others go to for help in resolving disputes, for wisdom, for a blessing. From an outcast to an insider to one who gives to others. A life transformed. Glory.

His fellow Zoe working group member Jocien spoke next. Her parents left her the eldest of seven siblings on their deaths. They did have a house at least, but no food. Two or three days would go by without eating and neighbors would wonder out loud how they could survive, and would advise Jocien (perhaps selfishly) to sell the house. When there was food it was only flour in water to make porridge. Her siblings dropped out of school, since she could not pay for fees or uniforms. When she found work, the most she could make was 100 francs a day. Imagine feeding seven on 15 cents--even in Rwanda.

She too heard about Zoe. The first lesson is on how to dream. Children draw pictures of what makes them sad, what makes them happy, what they hope for. Many have never thought of the latter. They're taught about proper hygiene, food, and nutrition. Jocien thought, "I don't have any food--how can I plan balanced meals?" But then the cassava harvest came in. Seeds for vegetables were planted. Zoe provided a pig for manure and the beans came up. Now all six siblings are in school and she sells her excess at the market. And she can buy health insurance for the family. This came as a surprise to us, but Rwandans are also required to buy it. Without it they can count on no health care. With it they can be healthy and well--4 children had curable but deadly diseases when they joined the working group. Now they're not only healthy, they're growing wealth. On a cue they all held up their bank books recording their savings. It was like church, all the hands in the air, cheering.

Rwanda, to state the obvious, is a poor country. When we are around children other than the Zoe kids, they are cute too, but often in rags, outwardly unhealthy. They stick their hand out and ask for money. The Zoe kids set out a feast for us from the work of their hands: corn, pineapple, tomatoes, eggplant (but, strangely to me, no doughnuts. Local Lion--maybe you're safe). From beggars to those with excess to sell and share a feast. From those alone and without worth to those who lead and inspire. Church has broken out. We swapped versions of "God is so good," and danced together.

At one point the children acted out their story, from being hungry to being helped by Zoe to help themselves. The child acting out Zoe acted like a duck, wings flapping, squawking. The Duck UMC group and the Rwandan kids busted out laughing at the same time. It was the first joke that needed no translator.

There is little better than a doubled over belly laugh in response to the way God rules the cosmos, choosing orphans to make community, knitting together a church from people across time zones and socio-economic status, turning a room for government bureaucracy into the theater of God's glory.

Blessings, Jason

Jason Byassee, pastor, Boone United Methodist Church
www.booneumc.org